


and the summer stars bore witness

by Insomnia_Productions



Series: The Rat Revolution (Mat/Rand Drabbles) [11]
Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: 15yo mat and rand are dweebs ngl, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, listen cauthor is canon and olver is their child this is the hill i will die on, nostalgic, pretentious title is pretentious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:34:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22253482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insomnia_Productions/pseuds/Insomnia_Productions
Summary: Mat is fifteen and free and on a night like this he feels like he knows everything.Eight years later, everything is different.Or: 15-year-old Mat and Rand discuss marriage and children. Years later, Mat plays board games with Olver and reflects on the past.
Relationships: Rand al'Thor/Mat Cauthon
Series: The Rat Revolution (Mat/Rand Drabbles) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1415056
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	and the summer stars bore witness

“What? What are you talking about?” 

It’s the height of summer, one of those nights that seems like day with the moon big and bright and so close you think you could just reach out and touch it. Tall stalks of grass brush their hips, swaying gently in the warm breeze, topped by silver flowers that glow under the summer starlight. The air is silent but for the rustle of fabric against flowers, and the chimes of boyish laughter ringing across the meadow, weaving between the weeds, dancing across the pebbles kicked up by careless feet. In the distance, Nynaeve might be calling, might be shouting, but it doesn’t seem to matter. 

Mat is fifteen and free and on a night like this he feels like he knows everything. 

Rand chases him, out of breath, laughing, and he catches Mat’s sleeve before he can leap onto the stones rising from the crystal waters of the meadow brook, sending them both tumbling onto the bank. Mat tries to get up, but Rand keeps him pressed to the ground. 

“I’m serious!” 

“You’re crazy!” Mat laughs. “I’m not getting married in Emond’s Field! I’m  _ never _ getting married. I’m going to travel the world!” 

“Then I’ll come with you,” Rand declares. 

Mat snorts. “You? No way you would. You like it here.”

“I would! If it was for you, I would!” 

“Really?”

“Really.”

“...Alright,” Mat relents. “If you came with me,  _ maybe _ I would marry you.” At Rand’s wide grin, he emphasizes, “Maybe!” 

Rand rolls his eyes, but he lets Mat go. They sit up on the riverbank and Mat kicks his shoes off, plunging his feet into the river. Rand goes more slowly, carefully lining his and Mat’s shoes away from the water and rolling up his trousers, but for all his preparation, he still lets out a sharp gasp as his skin meets the frigid water. They both kick frantically, shaking off the cold, making frothy ripples that dance across the moon’s reflection until it is unrecognizable on the surface of the water. It’s silent for a moment, before Rand speaks again. 

“What about children?”

“What about them?” 

“Well…” Rand shifts. “If we got married… would you have children with me?” 

Mat’s face flushes. He throws his head back to hide it and laughs loudly. “Rand, you really are crazy. Two men can’t have children.” 

“I know that!” Rand hunches his shoulders. “But… I heard that people in big cities don’t always keep their children, so other people raise them instead.” 

“I suppose we could try that,” Mat says dubiously. “You would have to do all the caring, though. I could teach them gambling and dancing, but you have to do everything else.” 

“I knew it. You would be the worst parent.” 

“Would not! I just said I would teach them all the fun things—” 

“And leave the hard things to me, got it.” Rand puts on a frown. “You would just leave me alone all the time, to raise our children by myself. I can see it already.” Teasingly, he adds, “I don’t think I want to marry you after all, Mat.” 

“Hey!” Mat kicks up a spray of water and Rand sputters as it hits his face. “No take backs!” 

“You don’t even want to get married!” Rand yelps, evading another splash and sending back one of his own. “You just said so!” 

Mat scowls, feeling his ears heat. “It’s different—if it’s you.” 

Rand blinks, and then a slow smile lights up his face. Mat scowls harder, and blushes harder, too. 

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything. I didn’t say anything at all.” 

Mat huffs. “You said the same thing, before. So don’t look at me like that.” 

Rand shuts his eyes. “Not looking.” 

Mat studies his friend, sitting there with his eyes closed and the moonlight making his freckles glow. He thinks for a span of time slightly less than a second. Then he darts forward and presses his lips to Rand’s. 

Rand’s eyes fly open, but Mat is already scrambling to his feet. He takes off into the meadow, bare feet kicking up warm dirt, smile wide and untamable on his face. Behind him, he can hear Rand laughing. 

* * *

“Another round, Mat?” The voice cuts through the memories, high and tinny and just wavering on the edge of petulant. The meadow falls away, and the river with its crystal waters, and Mat feels his mind thud heavily back into his body. He looks across the board at his charge. “Please, Mat? I’ll win this time. I know I will! Please?” 

Olver’s eyes glint in the dying light of the candles. Outside, the Altaran night sky is dark, moonless, clouds obscuring stars that seem further away with every passing day. Mat sighs and nods, and Olver beams as he scrambles to rearrange the pieces. 

_ You were wrong, Rand,  _ Mat thinks, watching him.  _ I’m looking after this child, and you’re the one who’s not here.  _

Olver sits proudly back, each piece in place. Mat finds he has forgotten the name of their game. 

“You first,” Olver says. 

Outside, the night sky is dark. Clouds shift and split and come back together. A lone star peers through the window, shining unnoticed light on the two players. 

Mat moves a piece. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I have been sitting on this fic idea for MONTHS
> 
> I have mock exams starting tomorrow (I'm this close to taking my finals and graduating high school, it's so weird) and so I've been busy with school for a while, but I have missed these boys!! so much!!! 
> 
> It feels like so long since I wrote something for them, so yesterday on the train home I decided, fuck it, before exams take over my life, let me get one more out. Hopefully things will slow down a little after my exams and I'll have another one out for Valentine's <3
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, and if you liked it, please feel free to come chat with me about Rat/WoT on Tumblr @insomnia-productions!


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